Cavaliers of Mars entered its next phase last week. I’ve written most of my parts of the book, and now I’ve got the rest of my team working on their first drafts. It’s exciting to tune into the discussions on the development list each day. To celebrate that, I’d like to share a short tale of adventure upon the … Read more
What seems like a lifetime ago, two months before the first of these Open Development posts, I was on holiday (that’s proper English for “vacation”) in the Orkney Islands. One day, I visited a Distillery and bought a reasonably old whisky. It’s sat, undisturbed, in its bottle in the corner of my living room ever … Read more
Hey all, I’m currently wrapping up the Edo Period for Dark Eras. First off, I just want to say holy shit, I could easily write an entire book on this topic. Getting a coherent, rich setting into that word count was super difficult. But I think we managed pretty damned well. I have about a … Read more
Time for the Devil to get his due. But first, some musical accompaniment. Several years ago, when we were writing what is now Vampire: The Requiem Second Edition, I was taking a lot of notes about how I’d handle Mage in what was then still The Fallen World Chronicle. Rose’s decision to put VII at … Read more
First, some Peter Gabriel. The end is approaching. Not global Ascension, but of these Open Development posts – we have only two more of these posts to go. Game’s nearly out of Development and into Editing, the playtest groups are beavering away, and my Development “to-do” list now fits on one page. What to say … Read more
(Warehouse 13, property of SyFy) Welcome back, faithful readers, to another in the pre-GenCon Order writeups. This time, we’re looking at the Mysterium. If the Guardians, early in Mage‘s gameline, showed what the Orders could be like when expanded upon, the Mysterium were the first Order I really “got,” as I one of my players had a Mystagogue … Read more
Welcome back, faithful readers! Continuing our pre-GenCon run through of the second edition Orders, it’s time for the Guardians of the Veil. First, some music from Tamer What to say about the Guardians? More than any other Order (except maybe the Seers) they were most clarified and improved by their Order book, so readers jumping … Read more
Welcome back, faithful readers! I knew we’d be over-subscribed for the playtest, but not that I’d be disappointing quite so many people. To try to make up for it, spoilers will continue until morale improves. First, some music with a very appropriate video, courtesy of the Glitch Mob. A looooooong time ago on this blog, … Read more
EDIT: Okay, everyone – check your private messages. In the end, we had a staggering 95 groups apply for playtesting, so please don’t feel bad if you don’t have a message from me waiting for you, but that number of groups is simply impossible to manage. I have not sent “rejections” out, as I … Read more
Last Seeming! I’m still fielding thoughts on what you want to see next. I have some thoughts. But yeah. So, normal rules apply. This is a rough draft. Don’t comment on grammar and typos and shit. I’m also still fussing with the way I want Blessings and Curses to look, so they’re not all perfectly … Read more